The (Re)Architecture of the X Window System

Jim Gettys

jim.gettys@hp.com

and

Keith Packard

keithp@keithp.com

Cambridge Research Laboratory, HP Labs, HP

Abstract:

The X Window System, Version 11, is the standard window system on Linux
and UNIX systems. X11, designed in 1987, was ``state of the art'' at that
time. From its inception, X has been a network transparent window system in
which X client applications can run on any machine in a network using an X
server running on any display. While there have been some significant
extensions to X over its history (e.g. OpenGL support), X's design lay
fallow over much of the 1990's. With the increasing interest in open source
systems, it was no longer sufficient for modern applications and a
significant overhaul is now well underway. This paper describes revisions
to the architecture of the window system used in a growing fraction of
desktops and embedded systems